A hospital worker has gone above and beyond to give elderly people in care homes a Christmas they will never forget.

Jodie Leech, a clinical support worker at Furness General Hospital, has lifted the spirits at care homes in Dalton and Askam after kindly donating Christmas gifts to isolating residents.

To help lift the spirits of those isolating in care homes, Mrs Leech launched a fundraising page which raised more than £600 towards Christmas gifts for residents at the Old Vicarage in Askam and Staveley House and Coronation House in Dalton. She said: "I was so pleased to be able to deliver the gifts yesterday. "I couldn't have done it without the help of the community and their generous donations. "The care homes were all hugely appreciative of the donations and I am sure it will put a smile on the recipients faces when they receive them which has been the whole reason for me doing this. "It`s just a small gesture which I think will make a huge difference to someone's day. "Hopefully, the gifts will show older people that everyone is thinking of them. "It feels good to be able to be in a position to give something back to our elderly generation of behalf of the local community. "I really would like to thank Asda for not only helping with shopping for all of the gifts but donating some extra gifts as a goodwill gesture."

The 36-year-old has not seen her own nanna, who lives in Staveley House in Dalton, since the pandemic began in March.

This prompted her to do something extra special to care home residents currently isolating throughout the festive period.

She said: “After not seeing my nanna since the lockdown began in March, it has made me realise just how difficult this year has been on our elderly generation.

"I want them to know we are all thinking of them.

“I work in a hospital so can see how badly this virus is affecting the elderly and how isolating this time has been for them.

"They seem to have become the forgotten generation."